


Will Was Nothing If Not Persistent

by Juliette_heronstairs_apples



Category: The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, But a good-looking one, Healthy Jem, I Don't Even Know, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Multi, Will is a Mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-05-31 10:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19424011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juliette_heronstairs_apples/pseuds/Juliette_heronstairs_apples
Summary: So the bois, Tessa and Jessamine are at uni, except Jessamine is usually out shopping, and Jem is that elusive, attractive teaching assistant who still won't go on a date with Will (but fear not that won't last for long) and Malec is established for everyone except them, and this is essentially just everyone trying to cope with uni and themselves.





	1. Chapter 1

**Will**

Will was under the impression that he worked best when he improvised. This was good, because when he reached the university and couldn't find the student accommodations, he thought it would all be fine. He set off determinedly in what turned out to be completely the wrong direction, and was only corrected after ten minutes, by a brunette with grey eyes and a sweet yet faintly sarcastic smile. She marched him off to the right building extremely efficiently, introduced herself as Tessa, then left. He still took a long time to find his room, but at least he was in the building. 

When he got to his room, he flopped on his bed bonelessly. There was some orientation thing in an hour, but he had bags of time before that. There was no roommate in sight, but there were about ten massive suitcases and a faint sheen of glitter on one side of the room, so he presumed his roommate had already made himself at home.

His family picture went on the small bedside table, and his clothes went in the chest of drawers. Will hadn't brought much with him: whenever he travelled, he would take very little and would simply buy whatever he needed when he was there, though his family protested it was a waste of his money. Of course, when it came to going home there was always trouble, because he never had space for everything he had bought, but Will never thought about that until he absolutely had to. 

The door opened, and a ridiculously tall, thin, handsome man walked in. Will sat bolt upright, because he was a hopeless bisexual and what else could he do. 

He introduced himself as Magnus Bane, which Will thought was probably a complete lie, but lots of people changed their names when they came to uni, a fresh start and all that. Will himself hadn't, but he wasn't exactly going to tell everyone to call him Gwilym. 

They explored the place together, and soon got hopelessly lost. They were rescued by Tessa yet again, who shepherded them back to their room with a faintly patronising air. "Do you get paid to help lost students, or something?" Will asked, amused. Tessa smiled but said nothing, making Will certain he was right.

Will soon became certain of two things. 1: Magnus was one of the best roommates ever. 2: Magnus would be a great friend, but he wasn't Will's type. They were completely platonic. 

They went to the orientation assembly together, laughing and chatting. The assembly was the usual crap, and Will fell half asleep, leaning on Magnus. Suddenly, Magnus sat bolt upright, dislodging Will. He sat up, disorientated (and it was an orientation assembly? Get it? No?) and frowned at Magnus, but Magnus was staring straight ahead at something... or someone. Will followed his gaze to a boy with colouring not dissimilar to Will's own, but otherwise very different-looking. At first, Will didn't understand why Magnus was staring, but then he realised. 

Magnus had a crush. On his first day. On someone he had never met. Nice going, Magnus.

Will would soon find out that he was no better.

* * *

**Jem**

To be honest, Jem became a teaching assistant only partially for the credit. Mainly it was because he liked Professor Branwell, and considering the man was paralysed from the waist down, he thought he might need some help. 

But when he walked into the classroom the day after the orientation assembly, he nearly walked out again. He hadn't realised how _full_ it would be, how many students there would be. He took a deep breath and walked over to Professor Branwell. 

"Need anything, sir?" He asked politely. 

"No, thank you- er, well now you mention it, I- well, I can't find my board pen." He spun fruitlessly in his wheelchair, searching for the pen. Jem spotted it under some books on the desk, retrieved it and handed it to Professor Branwell. 

"Ah, thank you, Jem! Now..." Professor Branwell seemed to be looking for something else, but Jem decided to keep out of it this time. 

To his regret and horror, Jem ended up doing most of the teaching. He enjoyed Mechanics, he really did, but what he didn't like was having to ask first years (including his adoptive sister) about it while the actual teacher just wrote happily on the board. And to make matters worse, the aforementioned sister, Jessamine, kept asking him questions of her own to piss him off and keep him talking. 

Afterwards, Professor Branwell asked Jem to come with him to find his wife, who taught Politics. Jem agreed, despite having agreed to meet a friend. They went to the classroom she usually taught in, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen when they got there, so they asked Gideon, who was just coming out of the classroom. 

"Oh, she just left, to go speak to Professor Starkweather." Jem winced when he heard that. Professor Starkweather wasn't the nicest person. 

They found Professor Starkweather arguing with Professor Fairchild, Professor Branwell's wife, about her father. She was trying to keep her voice down, but he was yelling. Jem went pretty red: it was Professor Fairchild's private business, and he shouldn't really be hearing this. To make matters worse, Professor Starkweather's class was still in the room, looking as uncomfortable as Jem felt. He looked at the students, then froze. Because he recognised one of the students. 

Black curly hair, blue, blue eyes, and a cocky smirk. Will Herondale. What was he- oh. He _would_ be an English student. 

Jem had met Will yesterday, when he, Gideon and Gabriel were relaxing on the lawn. Gabriel had suddenly sprung up and started shouting at some random stranger (Will). Will's friend, who turned out to be called Magnus, tried to break up the fight, which had something to do with Will's sister Cecily, and Jem and Gideon helped him. When they succeeded, Will hadn't seemed overjoyed to find that Gabriel had a brother, but Jem he had looked twice at.

When the argument between the professors seemed to be dying down, the students started to leave. Jem turned to leave as well- he was really late for meeting his friend- when he felt a hand on his arm. He spun round to see Will beaming angelically at him. They'd only met for about five minutes and he was treating Jem like his best friend. Still, Jem couldn't help feeling touched. 

"Hello, Jem. Fancy seeing you here," Will grinned. "We should meet up. Poor Professor Fairchild, getting attacked like that. Starkweather's awful. When are you free?"

Jem blinked at him. "Are you majoring in English Lit?"

"Yes?"

"Well, be ashamed, because that little monologue was the most poorly constructed speech I've ever heard. You switched topics completely randomly." Jem laughed.

Will smirked and gasped, mock offended. "Could you do any better, James?"

"Actually, yes, and I'm a Mechanics major. Feel humiliated."

"Mechanics, huh?" Will eyed him. "Going to tell me anything else about yourself?" 

"Nope. Look, Will, it was great seeing you, but I'm meeting a friend, and considering he's Gabriel Lightwood, I doubt you want to tag along."

Will grimaced. "You're meeting up with that worm?" 

"Will!" 

"Fine, fine, sorry."

"Ok, Will, I really need to go." Jem made to leave, but when he reached the door he felt a hand on his arm. 

"Give me your number? So we can stay in contact." Will gave Jem big, soulful cobalt eyes, and Jem couldn't say no. He typed his number into Will's phone, and put himself in as Jem in his contacts. Then, after a weakening of his resolve, he put Jem Carstairs. Will's smile when he saw it made everything worth it.

"Now, I _have_ to go." Jem insisted. Will relented, and waved him goodbye as he left. Jem couldn't stop himself from waving back. 

* * *

**Jem**

Jem got to the Happy Crocodile cafe about fifteen minutes after the agreed time. Gabriel looked pissed, but then again he always looked pissed, so Jem wasn't worried. He was the sort of friend who would defend you to the last and was extremely loyal, and he spent his life trying to pretend he wasn't. He and Jem hadn't immediately hit it off in the first year of uni, but Gideon and Jem had been friends from the start, and that had brought Jem and Gabriel together. Jem didn't regret it one bit.

They chatted about this and that, mainly complaining about how much their flat cost, even when splitting the costs, and how broke they all were. Jem was glad he was seeing Gabriel, they hadn't met up in a long time. But he couldn't focus. His mind was on something else.

Specifically, Will Herondale. 

* * *

**Will**

All in all, Will considered that a good day, unless you counted Professor Starkweather's outburst. His classes were good, he still liked his roommate, Tessa was in his English Lit class and they were friends now...

And he had Jem's number.

His life was complete.

W: _Hey Jem_

J: _Hi, this is Will, right?_

W: _No, it's Gabriel Lightworm. I got a new number_

J: _Hi, Will_

W: _Do you want to meet up sometime?_

J: _Yeah, sure. Does Saturday work for you? Also, it's not a date. I'm bringing friends_

W: _You wound me with your lack of trust! Also, yes Saturday works, and I will be bringing friends too, so there. Happy Crocodile cafe?_

J: _Sounds good_

Sounds good. Sounds good. Jem thought meeting up with Will sounded good. He thought he could fly, he felt so light.

Will was so gone for this man.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bois and Tessa meet up, and Jessamine makes a brief cameo, kicking off Tessa/Jessamine, but it is so brief don't get your hopes up. I did say she would be out shopping the whole time.

**Will**

Jem had said it wasn't a date, and it wasn't, obviously, because their friends were coming too, but that didn't mean Will wasn't going to look nice for Jem. Blue brought out his eyes, obviously, because his eyes were blue, so jeans, and that tight black top with the Oscar Wilde quote that managed to be romantic and made his muscles stand out. Denim jacket, leather jacket, hoodie, or no jumper?

"You do realise this is a platonic meetup," Magnus called, amused, from the doorway as he came in. 

"Yes, but that doesn't mean the next one will be," Will said, going for the hoodie.

"No, no, no, honey no. The denim jacket." 

"Double denim? You think?" 

Magnus paused, considering. "The leather jacket plus the black top doesn't work if you're going to wear the jeans. So yes, I think so."

Will put on the denim jacket and posed dramatically. "How do I look?"

"Like a twelve year old girl going on her first date. Hurry up."

* * *

**Jem**

Jem felt like a cliché when he saw Will. He quite literally did a double take. Also, he couldn't help but feel like Will had dressed up for him. Call him arrogant, but Will hadn't been the one stopping the meetup from being a date.

Though it wasn't like Jem had dressed up for Will or anything. He was wearing his nice jeans just because he wanted to look good. For himself.

When they had all reached the Happy Crocodile cafe, they sat down, taking up two tables. Will managed to get onto a table with Jem, and even though Tessa was there too, eyeing them dubiously, it still felt like it could have been a date. If Jem squinted, and pretended the judgemental girl and their friends weren't there. 

After having unhealthy snacks, they left. They (read: Tessa, the strong minded one) had decided to go to a theme park, which excited some (Magnus, Tessa and Will) depressed others (Gideon and sort of Jem) and filled others with glee because they didn't want to go but at least their brother didn't either (Gabriel). Will had asked Jem if he would go on the ferris wheel with him, and Jem had replied with a "ferris wheels are stupid rides. Not fast enough to be exciting, but not slow enough to be fine for people scared of heights" which meant yes. Will knew what he meant (Jem didn't understand how Will, who had met him only a few days ago, knew him better than he knew himself), and had given him a shining smile in return. 

The boys and Tessa split off into groups as soon as they got to the theme park. She went with Magnus to get tickets, Gideon and Gabriel went off to get candy floss, and Will and Jem were left to look around for any interesting rides. Jem, who wasn't particularly keen on theme parks, wasn't doing a very good job of it, but Will kept finding the best rides that even Jem appreciated: a sweet little merry-go-round playing charming, very old music, with these enchanting horses, captivating even though their paint was peeling off, a massive helter-skelter that Jem knew Magnus would probably love, and of course the ferris wheel, which Will pointed out with a crooked smile and a soft, even slightly awkward voice. 

Gabriel got back holding a massive candy floss. He immediately started an argument with Will, which came as no surprise to Jem, or Gideon when he got back too. Jem found himself the new owner of an enormous candy floss, as Gideon broke up the fight. Sadly, Gideon reclaimed it. 

"Did you two only get candy flosses for yourselves?" Jem asked sternly. Gabriel had the grace to look sheepish, but Gideon drew himself up and gave a righteous speech. 

"Too big to carry... not our fault... didn't have enough money... Gabriel's idea..." ("thanks, mate") "surely you understand..." 

"Alright, that's enough," Jem interrupted. Will smirked, and Jem hit him. 

Tessa and Magnus appeared, but with two newcomers in tow. Jem frowned, and then, with a dawning horror, recognised his sister, Jessamine, with some new friend. Will gave a slightly choked laugh beside him. 

"Do you know the boy?" Jem asked. Will nodded, pursing his lips together in an effort to keep from laughing. Jem suddenly noticed that Magnus was paying a lot of attention to this boy, and he looked at Will again. Will gave him a little smile, confirming his suspicions. 

"So we've added my sister and Magnus' crush to the brothers focused only on their stomachs, a cynical, terrifying girl, a fashion icon, an idiot who happens to be my crush, and me," Jem muttered. He didn't think Will had heard him (he hoped not) but Will grinned and leaned in to whisper, "you can't be cynical about this, James. It's love."

"I'm not cynical!" Jem protested. Was he? He had had a very bad lung infection when he was younger, and had tried his best to be good; perhaps he was still balancing out those years of super-tolerance. It had been three years, though. He certainly wasn't Tessa. 

Will looked at him derisively. "Sure," he said, his tone laced with sarcasm. Jem rolled his eyes, and went over to say hello to this new boy, dragging Will with him. 

* * *

**Will**

Magnus' crush, whose name was Alec, seemed a little awkward at first, but turned out to be perfectly nice after a while. Jem's adoptive sister, Jessamine, was a little b*tch, although Tessa seemed to like her a great deal. Jessamine was giving Gabriel a run for his money in terms of rivalry against Will. 

But he made an effort for Jem's sake. He still needed to go on that ferris wheel with him, which he was hoping might actually happen. Jem had seemed to warm to the idea. Or was that just Will getting his hopes up? 

Jem was so cynical. But also adorable.

He agreed to go get a candy floss with Will for him and Will to share, which Will counted as a victory. They chatted with the others for a bit, then chatted to each other for a bit, just the two of them. They discussed a lot of things, like school and Magnus' crush, and finally Will broached the subject of going on the ferris wheel, crossing his fingers mentally. Jem waited, stringing out an agonising pause, until he said yes, grinning broadly at Will.

"I was always going to say yes, you know," Jem confided teasingly. Will frowned.

"Then why did you wait so long?" 

Jem's grin grew even broader. "To watch you squirm." 

Will spluttered, indignant, and Jem watched with a smile that could almost have been fond. 

They got tickets from Tessa, who winked at them, making Jem frown in confusion and Will scowl. He knew exactly what Tessa was up to, and it wasn't going to happen. Just because Will had a mini, unreciprocated crush, didn't mean Tessa was allowed to do anything with that crush. 

When they got to the ferris wheel, the attendant was a tiny woman who looked about seventy but upon closer inspection was actually only fifty. She was extremely nice, and rather than doing the embarrassing cliché that they always did in the movies and mistaking them for dating, she actually asked if it was a date. They shook their heads quickly, Will perhaps too quickly. She gave him a knowing look.

The ferris wheel was extremely fun. It started out slowly, and Jem leaned back into the seat. It was just starting to get darker, and Will felt himself relaxing into that half asleep, half awake dream state. However, he was shocked out of it when he felt Jem's head come to rest on his shoulder. Carefully, so as not to disturb or dislodge him, Will looked down at him. Jem's eyes were only half open, and he had a small, slightly dopey smile on his face. Will thought it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen. 

The ferris wheel began to speed up, and Jem yawned and took his head off Will's shoulder, which disappointed Will slightly. 

"Enjoying the not-a-date so far?" Will asked teasingly. Jem hit him lightly, but did say yes.

"You?" Will nodded.

Suddenly they spotted Magnus and Alec, queuing for the ferris wheel. They turned to each other with matching grins, and as their seat dipped closer to the two men, they tried to catch some of what was being said. The first time, however, they couldn't hear anything, so they resolved to try again. When they got near again, the first thing they heard was, "...but she can be a bit much. I mean, I like her, of course, and I'm glad that she dragged me to the theme park, because you're..." the ferris wheel moved away again, making Will annoyed. 

Jem glanced at him, eyebrows raised. "What are the chances they were talking about my sister?" 

Will couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Pretty high." 

By the time they got round again, Magnus and Alec had spotted them, which meant they couldn't eavesdrop. They waved at Jem and Will, who waved back resignedly, disappointed that they had been seen. Will decided he should put the rest of the ride to use and try to get closer to Jem. Will wasn't a naturally friendly person: he was charming enough, but he found letting people in enough to be friends a bit hard. Magnus had made it easy by being friendly; this was something else. Jem was nice, but reserved- but Will wanted to be his friend, wanted to get to know him, wanted to get closer.

He asked Jem about his parents, and Jem told him they were dead with a rueful smile. 

"Oh," Will looked away, embarrassed. This was why he didn't make friends: he messed up. But he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

"You didn't know, Will," Jem said softly, and Will turned to see him smiling a little at him. Then Jem's grin widened. "Besides, I'm not exactly making it easy for you to be nice."

Will laughed a bit, and felt the tension disappear. Maybe Jem did want to be friends. 

* * *

**Jem**

Jem was afraid he was coming across as unfriendly. He wanted to be Will's friend, of course he did, but he wasn't great at making conversation. He had felt bad for Will after Will had asked about his parents, so he decided to start the conversation himself this time. 

"What about your parents? Do you have any siblings?" 

"Uh, yeah, they're in Yorkshire- no, they'll be in Wales, actually, this time of year. Mam's Welsh. And I have a younger sister, Cecily, who you know about from Gabriel, and- just Cecily." 

The lie was painfully obvious, but Jem didn't push it. He nodded, and then Will blurted, "and I- and Ella, too. She- my older sister." A pause. "Dead."

"Oh."

"Sorry, I- this isn't about me. Your parents- yeah, sorry." Will winced, and he had stuttered so many times, and Jem felt his heart breaking a little. He put his arm around Will, and after a bit of hesitation, Will rested his head on Jem's shoulder. 

After a pause, they started talking again, about TV shows this time. Will was a devoted Supernatural fan, as well as an avid Sherlock watcher, and Jem watched Sherlock as well and a lot of the Big Bang Theory. Both of them watched a bit of Friends. Jem didn't know about Will, but he enjoyed himself immensely. 

Once the ride was over, they got off, and watched, smirking, as Magnus and Alec got on. They were laughing and talking, their heads very close together. Will waggled his eyebrows at Jem, who laughed. 

At around nine, after many rides and many candy flosses, they met up and decided to go back. Jem, Gideon and Gabriel would go back to their flat, and the others would go back to campus. Tessa and Jessamine were apart from the others. Jessamine turned away suddenly, looking haughty, as if Tessa had insulted her, but Tessa caught her arm and said something in a gentle voice, and Jessamine relented and turned back. Magnus and Alec were also murmuring to each other, completely unaware of the outside world. Jem, as he talked exclusively to Will, thought this was ridiculously sappy.

When the group split, Jem wondered about giving Will a hug. Was it too soon? Did most guys even hug? But when he leaned forward a bit, awkwardly, Will leaned in too, and they did end up hugging. Just for that second, Jem could feel Will's curls tickling his cheek, could feel his warm, solid arms around him, could smell Will, a bit of mint, something citrusy, and something that was purely Will. He let go somewhat reluctantly. 

* * *

**Will**

The rest travelled back to college. Tessa and Jessamine were still talking to each other, and Magnus was talking to Will but kept looking over at Alec like he would rather chat to Alec instead. Finally, Will sighed and told him to go on.

"What?" 

"Talk to Alec. I know you want to."

"But then you won't have anyone to talk to."

"Alec doesn't have anyone at the moment either. Go over to him or I'll drag you."

"Fine, fine!" Magnus went over to Alec, and Will watched the couples, internally sighing. He was _painfully_ single. 

He was really missing Jem.

* * *

**Jem**

Jem remembered how Will had hugged him. How he had stuttered, how he had kept trying to be friends even when Jem had been discouraging. He remembered Will's scent, the feel of Will's curls on his cheek.

He was really missing Will.

* * *

_{And some bonus content! :)}_

* * *

**Magnus**

Magnus hadn't had a crush like this since- God, since _Etta,_ even. And before Etta, only Camille, who had turned out to be a lying b*tch. He didn't know why Alec was so important to him, but he was.

They decided to go on the ferris wheel, because Alec had never been, and Magnus (though obviously he hadn't said this out loud) thought ferris wheels were romantic. As if some divine force whole heartedly agreed, he saw Jem and Will on it together as proof. 

He turned back to Alec. "So, enjoying uni so far? Made any close friends?"

Alec coughs. "Yeah, uh, uni's great, I'm loving- I do Politics, actually, and I'm really enjoying that. And I've made some friends: there's this guy, Jace, my roommate, he's cool. And Jessie, of course. Though..." he hesitated. "She's one of my closest friends, but she can be a bit much. I mean, I like her, of course, and I'm glad that she dragged me to the theme park, because you're here, and, um, yeah, you're great- and so are your friends, of course," he added hastily. "What about you?" 

Magnus suddenly realised that Jem and Will had just passed them as they went round, and would have been listening to that conversation. "Well, uni's great, I'm doing Mechanics, actually, with this brilliant teacher, Professor Branwell, and as for friends- oh, speak of the devil! It's Will and Jem!" He was worried that his surprise came off as a bit fake, but Alec didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, I didn't notice them! Well," Alec eyed them with an amused expression, watching them talk. "They look like they're having fun." 

Magnus stifled a snort of laughter, but couldn't quite keep it in. "They're quite the couple. Look, they're coming round again. Let's wave, shall we?" 

Magnus nearly couldn't stop himself from laughing again at the look of rage on Will's face when he realised they had been spotted. 

"Anyway," he continued after they had passed, "doing anything tomorrow?" 

"Er, no," Alec said, looking up at him, slowly realising what was happening. "No, I'm completely free tomorrow."

"Well, not anymore," Magnus said cheerily, silently praying that Alec would go along with it. "Want to go somewhere with me?"

Alec grinned up at him shyly. "Sure. Are you going to tell me where we're going, or is that a surprise?" 

Magnus decided on the spot. "It's a surprise."

Alec's grin grew wider. "Do you yourself know where we'll go?"

"Nope," Magnus confessed cheerily. Alec laughed. Then they had to stop the conversation temporarily, because Will and Jem had come round again.

When it was their turn to go on the ferris wheel, Magnus helped Alec into their seat, and sat extremely close to him, which he hoped Alec wouldn't notice. 

"So," Alec looked up at him with massive sapphire eyes. "Tomorrow, what time, where are we meeting?" 

"Uh... ten? Outside the dormitories?"

Alec smiled a little. "Dormitories?" 

"Student accommodation, you know what I mean," Magnus rolled his eyes. 

"Ok." One side of Alec's mouth twisted upwards slightly. 

"I guess it's a date."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, kudos and comments much appreciated! I know Tessa and the Lightwoods (and Jessie) didn't have much of a role in this chapter, and I will remedy that next time. I am also sorry that I took so long to get this chapter out (I'm writing the chapter of another story at the same time) and I hope the next one will be out sooner. I hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments much appreciated, because this wouldn't be a fic by me if I didn't say that. I don't know how many chapters this will have, and I apologise in advance because the updates will be very sporadic. I hope you enjoyed this! Also don't worry, there will be Malec in the next chapter.


End file.
